The All In era at DC Comics started this week with the release of Absolute Batman #1. Part of that initiative is Mark Waid coming on to Action Comics and that title going to weekly! Within Action Comics, we have a Supergirl back-up feature by Mariko Tamaki and Sklyar Patridge.
Given the focus of this site, I will be reviewing these Action issues in two parts, making sure to give the Supergirl story the space it deserves. For us old timers, seeing Supergirl in the back of Action Comics, a space she anchored in the Silver Age, is perfect.
Action Comics #1070 was released this week. So we jump right into the story. But before we get there, a couple of opening salvos.
First off, Supergirl is treated very very well by Mark Waid in the main story. I cannot wait to show how Waid continues that 'field marshal', second-in-command feel for Supergirl within the super-family.
Second, Mariko Tamaki wrote the rather bland Supergirl Special #1 almost a year ago. That story was extremely rough. Supergirl not remembering Krypton (after PKJ had her be the Kryponian archivist for years). Supergirl jealous of Power Girl (after we just had a PG story where she was jealous of Supergirl). And, of course, a concentration on eating snacks. How DC could read that story and say 'this is the writer we want to guide Supergirl in her next solo story' is confusing.
Third, this story seems to concentrate on Supergirl's 'new power' coming out of Absolute Power, a hypno-vision where she can literally control people. That has troubling implications all over the place about consent. In the story, it shows the super-family having a lack of trust in their friends. And we simply don't need Kara to have this power any more than we need Black Canary to have heat vision or Power Girl to 'astral punch'.
At the very least, Skylar Patridge is reunited with Tamaki and brings a wonderful art style to the proceedings. Patridge has a sort of breezy, fine-lined style that feels like a top-notch indy book. That is not faint praise. The art is beautiful.
But this opening chapter is a little confusing and a little troubling. So I hope things get tighter. On to the book.
And the dialogue is confusing as Kara has no appointment, talks almost in Bizarro speak as she both answers truthfully and uses her hypnovision to erase this memory from the person's mind. This person gives her no information adding to why she is there. It is befuddling.
Feels very very Universo to me. This is how villains act.
We start with an opening splash of what I assume is an extreme close-up of Kara's eye pupil, complete with what seems to be circuitry on the retina? Is her hypnovision tech-based? I don't know.
But we then see she is at a Thanagar outpost, talking to some administrator? Politician? Physician?
And the dialogue is confusing as Kara has no appointment, talks almost in Bizarro speak as she both answers truthfully and uses her hypnovision to erase this memory from the person's mind. This person gives her no information adding to why she is there. It is befuddling.
I get dropping us into action. She is in space, at a Thanagar outpost, and meeting with people to get info. But there is little else we know. I don't know who this person is. And the dialogue is so utterly confusing that I had to read these 2 pages 3 times to see if I understood what was happening.
This is NOT the way to open up a story and grab the reader.
Because we flash back.
Prior to Thanagar, we see Supergirl at Ironworks getting her ship and tech from Steel. He is worried because he isn't sure if his tech will survive the rigors of this mission.
I have to give Tamaki credit for that last panel. Kara remembers her trip from Krypton knowing she was never going to go home. Nice line about one-way trips. Sort of the highpoint of the story.
Because shortly after getting what she wants, she hypnotizes Steel to forget she was ever there and that he ever did anything for he.
Feels very very Universo to me. This is how villains act.
But she is doing it on Superman's orders.
This is an important mission and 'lonely', meaning she has to do it alone and probably has to keep it secret to make sure she does it alone.
I have a couple of thoughts about his last line there. One, I like that he trusts Supergirl enough to accomplish this very important, solo mission. But second, we don't know what the mission is so it is hard right now to know why Supergirl, why alone, why secret. So sending her off for a potential one-way mission is hard to comprehend right now. And lastly, since we don't know the conversation that happened before this, we don't see her agree to do it. That blank look on her face in that panel makes me wonder if she feels forced doing it.
There is something almost religious, or something that makes it feel ominous/life-threatening about him saying he doesn't want to put this on her shoulders. A sort of 'let this cup pass me' feel.
I get it. The mystery is part of the story. It'll unfold.
But so far - inscrutable opening scene, brainwashing a friend, mission potentially forced on her, all without explanation.
Just before firing up her space ship and heading off, Power Girl arrives.
Thankfully ... and I mean THANKFULLY ... they act like friends. Power Girl wants to know about the mission. She wants to join Kara. She is confused about why Kara would slink off. They act like friends and sisters!
But then? More brainwashing!
Always the one eye ... is it tech based?
And what are the depths of this brainwashing? Yes, she might hypnotizes them into forgetting these details. But won't all these people be thinking 'I haven't seen Kara for a while, where is she??' Or did she erase the very memory of her existence? Or did she implant a 'Kara isn't around but don't look for her compulsion'?
Regardless, controlling these people, her family and friends, feels odious right now.
Regardless, controlling these people, her family and friends, feels odious right now.
Off she goes, presumably first to the Thanagar outpost.
Beautiful art throughout. Nice moment with Jon. But the rest of this feels like a riddle. It is the opening chapter of a mystery so I hope things become clearer.
But this wasn't exactly a stellar start.
Opening grade: C-
12 comments:
I’m pretty much with you, this was very confusing and the optics around the Hypno-Vision - something she and Superman always had, but not with that name - are awful, no pun intended. And why couldn’t they be clear as to whether the start of the chapter is Now and the rest a flashback, there’s no caption? Also, did she hypnotise the Thanagarian, there’s no effect there - probably she did, but it’s sloppy editing.
I do like that Superman trusts Kara above everyone else, as I’m sure will come up when you review the issue’s opening tale - he knows any other Super Family member would be ‘slaughtered’ by the menace, but isn’t at all worried about Kara.
Fingers crossed next issue will be better. At least there were no snacks.
I loved it, personally. I had even less idea than you what was going on but that just made it more enjoyable. I imagine all will become clear eventually but if not, that's fine too. I don't need to know to enjoy.
The hypno eye thing was new to me, not having read the story where Supergirl acquires it. Again, though, I didn't feel I needed to know how or why she was doing what she was doing. It was enough to see it happen. The implications are potentially disturbing but then almost everything super-heroes do is morally and/or ethically suspect. This seems a very minor violation of personal autonomy compared to most.
Having read the current Zatanna series (and going by the quality of Supergirl: Being Super) I don't actually blame Mariko Tamaki for the strange character choices in the Action back-up but instead, as with many things, blame DC editorial for neither understanding the character nor what to do with her. So I can imagine Tamaki's brief was "Okay, we don't want Kara on Earth as it lessens Power Girl; Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow was a success so put her in space" (after all, it worked so well a few years back during the Bendis era) and "Oh, and she now has super hypnotism instead of heat vision." Cut to Tamaki thinking "Why did I agree to this again?"
I actually thought this better than any Supergirl starring comic I've read in years and Power Girl came off as her classic characterization for a change. I didn't even catch the hypno vision thing for a bit. (And TBH, I think about how some people have a resistance to the control over them hypnotism tries to have so I feel like mesmerism is a better term for such a power in fiction).
I also Googled Tamaki because I haven't liked her recent work and found out she's not the young gun I thought she was and did some Marvel work I disliked as much as most of her recent DC work so I might have to stop blaming DC editorial for the recent missteps.
Thanks for early comments!
I agree better than the Special, better than Woman of Tomorrow (for me).
Hoping it turns around and gets better.
And yes Marv! No snacks!!! Hooray!
I liked this story more than you did, Anj. I agree that it isn't a masterpiece, and certain things like no caption for the shift from the in medias res opening to the past and no explanation for the hypno device are sloppy. However, Tomaki does seem to have an inkling that this is supposed to be Action Comics not Emotional Wallowing Comics. Her somber mood is appropriate given that she is about to embark on a solo mission so dangerous that she may not return from it and the entire chapter is essentially her saying goodbye to everything and everyone she loves for what may be the last time. I'm not fond of the hypno device, but I have no problem with Supergirl using it here as a way of conveying that this mission is so important and the consequences of the wrong people finding out about it so dire that she has no choice but to erase all knowledge of it even from the memories of her dearest friends. Hopefully, she will lose the hypno device soon, not only because it raises too many ethical problems going forward, but because it is too big an ace in the hole for her against any enemies she may encounter. The fact that even the finest Steelworks technology may not be enough to pull of this mission also conveys just how much danger the girl of steel is placing herself in. I love the way both Waid and Tomaki lean hard into the idea of Supergirl as Superman's top lieutenant. Both of them make it very clear that if Superman has a deadly threat or dangerous mission that he can't handle alone, the first person he sends for is Supergirl.
William, completely agree that one of the main things about this (and the main story) is how much Superman trusts Supergirl and leans on her. I will say it in the review of the Waid story that he picks up right where PKJ and Josh Williamson left off ... she is the field general when Kal isn't around, second in command.
As you say, this seems like it will be an Action story, an adventure, more than the Special. But I just thought this opening chapter was just clunky enough to not grab me, no where near as much as the Waid side (another first chapter but one way more tight and gripping).
It just occured to me. Is the hypno device really Universo's hypno medallion in its original form?
Thanks for the review. My overall opinion of this was that it avoided some of the worst possible pitfalls that Tamaki's work in the Supergirl Special might have heralded, but nonetheless this was quite disappointing. Although this version of Kara is better than the angry Kara of the early New 52 era or the miserable Kara from the Supergirl Special and Woman of Tomorrow, she was still far more sullen than in her best depictions from writers such as Waid, Johnson, and PKJ. In those depictions, even when she's in a tricky situation Kara still has a fundamental level of pluck and vigor that conveys the essential optimism of her character. It points to a major problem writers like Tamaki and King have, which is the conviction that for Kara being Supergirl is some kind of burden that weighs on her spirit. I've always felt that instead Kara fundamentally feels that being Supergirl is a privilege she's glad to have, and her demeanor should generally reflect that. That doesn't mean she can't experience adversity or have negative emotions, but it does mean that her fundamental attitude towards her role and life in general should be positive. I don't see that positivity here so far, which was a major letdown. Hopefully, Tamaki can bring some of the humor and vitality to this depiction of Kara that she has been able to give to her protagonists in a few of the other series she's worked on.
Beyond that, this definitely seems like a script that was intended for 3 or 4 full length issues is a miniseries or as part of an arc for an ongoing series. The pacing for the opening seems quite slow, and we're told so little that the events here seem almost meaningless. Maybe that just indicates a weak ability on Tamaki's part to properly align story installments with the space she's been allotted in the back of a weekly series. I can't help thinking though that this wasn't intended to be told as a weekly back up story and is instead a monthly main story that got chopped up roughly, which helps to explain why the plot of this chapter feels so oddly structured and unclear (which, as you correctly pointed out, isn't helped by the annoying decision to start in media res).
Finally, two points. First, while I suppose I appreciate Power Girl's concern for Kara, it seemed like PG was implying that Kara needed her permission to leave the planet and also has some kind of obligation to brief Kara on her missions. It's as if PG thinks Kara is subordinate to her, which is utterly inexplicable and out of character for her. On a related note, it's also odd that Kara didn't say she's doing this because of a request from Clark that he wants to keep secret and just let the matter rest there. The whole interaction makes it seem as if Tamaki doesn't understand the relationship the characters have with each other or their place in the DCU.
Second, the "hypno vision" definitely seems to be a function of the lens or implant that's shown in the opening panel's close up shot on her eye. It's functionally an ocular version of the memory wiping device from Men in Black which she either got from Clark or made herself, and by extension her mind wiping ability isn't some new innate power that she suddenly acquired. Based on what we see here, it also doesn't seem to give her control over people. Rather, it seems like it just lets her selectively erase bits of people's recent memories, though you're right that so far the extent of its ability is unknown.
Great review Anj - I am with you aabout most of it - I don't understand the concept of confusing the reader to start with. I understand that's the mystery of it, but so many other things are thrown at you and I hate how "dirty" the hypno-vison plays off. I'm obviously giving this more issues, but I went in needing Tamaki to show me that I shouldn't be worried and I came out of it worried.
Anonymous, I didn't have a problem with Supergirl's demeanor in this story because she is going on a mission so dangerous that she may not survive it. The best tech that Steelworks has to offer may not be enough to pull it off. The consequences of the wrong people finding out what she's doing are so dire that she feels compelled to erase even her closest friends' memories of it to make sure that doesn't happen. The entire story is her essentially saying goodbye to everything and everyone she knows and loves for what may be the last time. Who can blame her for being in a somber mood? That said, I agree that there should be room for a happier and more optimistic take on Supergirl.
So--why was Mon-El on the cover?
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